Foundation: Connect
Please make sure students have their hats and that they are named.
Students are loving the fruit at breakfast club that they often have at 'fruit' snack time. We are encouraging students to eat their own fruit first.
Please return all take-home readers every Monday with the reading folder. If you could have a look for any old books it would be appreciated please.
Term 3
Literacy
Students have been developing their understanding of the suffix ‘-ed’, which is added to a base word to show that an action has already happened. They are learning that ‘-ed’ can make three different sounds: ‘ed’ as in wanted and started, ‘d’ as in played and called, and ‘t’ as in jumped and looked.
Students were highly engaged throughout Book Week and enjoyed sharing and exploring a wide range of quality texts. Our current and future mentor texts, Derek and Dinosaur in My Pocket, are being used to support reading comprehension and writing development. Students are examining the characters’ personalities, making meaningful text-to-self connections and using evidence from the texts to explain their thinking. They are also practising using the heart word ‘because’ to justify their answers and provide clear reasons.
In the coming weeks, students will explore sentence structure in greater depth. They will learn to identify and create different sentence types, with a particular focus on the difference between statements and questions. Students will also investigate question words such as who, what, when, where, why and how.
Numeracy
Students will continue exploring length through informal measurement. They will use icy-pole sticks, unifix cubes and even their feet to measure and compare objects around the classroom. Students will also throw beanbags and measure the distance of each throw by counting how many steps away it lands. These hands-on activities will support students in using mathematical language such as longer, shorter, further and closer.
Students will also continue learning about tens and ones. They will develop an understanding that two-digit numbers are made up of groups of ten and leftover ones. Skip counting by 10s will be an important part of this learning, helping students count groups efficiently and build a strong foundation for place value. Students will also continue practising skip counting by 2s. A game of Buzz is also still a favourite!
Wellbeing
Our Mindfulness time after recess continues to be a valuable part of the school day. It provides students with a calm and supportive opportunity to reset their bodies and minds before returning to learning. During this time, students are encouraged to share and work through any playground concerns, reflect on how they are feeling and identify their Zone of Regulation. These positive check-ins are helping students develop self-awareness, express their emotions and feel calm, supported and ready to learn.
Additionally, as students are becoming more independent we are encouraging parents to please let students walk in by themselves in the morning at the classroom door as we start looking towards Grade 1. This is essential for their growing independence in the school environment.
Book Week
Thank you to all families for the fantastic effort you put into Book Week. The students looked amazing in their creative costumes and thoroughly enjoyed celebrating their favourite books and characters. It was also lovely to welcome so many families into the school to share in the celebrations. Your involvement makes these occasions incredibly special and memorable for our students.
Also, thank-you so much to all the lovely classroom helpers that have volunteered their time. Students have loved reading with you!
Have a wonderful week!
Kind regards,
Alex Whittle (0A) and Kate Clark (0B)
Foundation Team